Is their hope for natural gas prices?

[dan_s]

The mild weather in the back half of December should move out and lead to a much colder than normal January in the eastern half of the U.S.

Dr. Joe doesn't do his daily weather updates anymore but you should listen to his Saturday Summary: https://www.weatherbell.com/premium/

The "gassers" definitely need some big draws from natural gas storage in Q1 to get higher gas prices.
> Gas in storage was slightly below the 5-year average on 12/13, which you can confirm here: http://americanoilman.homestead.com/GasStorage.html
> A normal winter in the eastern U.S. should take gas storage down to 1,600 Bcf by March 31; compared to total storage capacity of ~4,200 Bcf.
> The U.S. needs gas in storage to be ~3,800 Bcf by mid-November to safely make it through a cold winter. We began this winter with 3,762 Bcf in storage.
> Refilling storage is part of demand each year, so it is extremely important to gas prices for gas storage to be drained during the winter heating season.
> If storage is 1,600 Bcf on March 31, 2020 and winter hangs on well into April (i.e. - delays the start of refill season) it is bullish for natural gas.

It will take a VERY COLD January to push Henry Hub gas prices to $3.00 this winter.